It’s always interesting to hear of new opal discoveries, but even more-so when the discovery is local. A new opal field has been discovered in Western Australia, which produces a fire opal which is similar to that of Mexican Opal.
This exothermic form of Opal (rather than Sedimentary-formed Opal that is produced elsewhere in the Australian Opal fields) is fairly limited in production, but the field (which is roughly 600kms north of Kalgoorlie) still covers a huge area, so the possibility of larger finds is high.
Compared to other Australian Opal, which is found between 5 and 60 feet below the surface, this new volcanic opal is only found about a metre deep, so the mining costs for this type of opal are nowhere near as great.
From all accounts, it does look like an interesting type of opal, with the lustrous orange/red hues.
